Lumbar Laminectomy recovery

Triathlon Forum
1

Yeserday I had a laminectomy on L4-L5, due to a bi-lateral bulge that is believed to be the cause of lateral hip and leg pain that I’ve had since prior to IMC last year. I also had a tear of L5-S1 that the surgeon felt was not a concern. I haven’t spoken with the surgeon since the surgery, but he told my SO that there was some ligament damage that he “cleaned up”.

So, I know from searches that there’s a few people on there that have gone through similar, and I believe a neurosurgeon who posts here occasionally.

What’s your experience for the next couple of weeks? I was able to go out and walk up and down the street a couple of times last night, but in quite a bit of pain this morning. I’ve been hoping to minimize the use of pain pills, but I just succombed to taking one.

While I’ll follow my surgeon’s advice, I’m curious what others have experienced, and what I can be asking the surgeon in regards to return to activity.

Prior to the surgery the doc said it would be six weeks before I could start PT. Any experience on what people were doing in the meantime? How quickly did you get back to riding and/or running? For me, cycling was very painful to the point of it simply not being worth it prior to the surgery.

Thanks in advance for any input.

scott

2

You know, everybody is going to have a different healing process. Let me tell you about my experience.

Ruptured disc L4/L5 disc space. Pain in my butt cheek and calf…I could walk very far it hurt so damn bad…numbness between first two toes and foot drop…Suffered like this for about 5 months. Luckily, I was able to bike and swim with no problems…

Lots of PT and finally got the doc to cut that sucker out…Had surgery on a Wed, went home on Thursday, the following friday had the staples removed, went home and ran ten miles ( i was dying to run)

No longterm problems except for the occasional dull ache. Been invloved in many sports since, tri’s, mountain biking, and even jumping out of airplanes (military)…Consitant top 10 finisher in my age group (40-44)…

Good luck…

3

Thanks for the feedback. It’s been two days and I’m already going stir crazy! I was out same day and have been walking around the block and working from home.

Glad to hear yours has been so successful.

scott

4

I had almost the same surgery in May of 04. You are doing better than I was if you can get to your computer the day after surgery. I was out of running for 6 months and off the bike for a month before the surgery. It took 9 months and three rounds of physical therapy with two different therapists to get me back in action. The doc told me it would be about 6 weeks to recover. He wasn’t even close. I was running a bit by Christmas of '04 but wasn’t able to bike until May of '05. I still can’t stay in the aerobars for more than 40K and can’t climb worth a crap in the saddle but at least I’m back out there. I can recommend a great physical therapist if you are in the Detroit area. Good luck with your recovery.

Jay

5

Scott:

I think a lot of how quickly you recover has to do with just how long you were “down and out” before the surgery. I did IMLP in 2001, herniated the disc a month later and did not get a diganosis until nine months later when I was having difficutly walking. It took me a full year and a few different PTs to get better. My advice: go to PT as soon as you can. There are things that you should NOT be doing over the next few months, mostly b/c they can cause scar tissue to form and once you have that, it’s hard to remove it without creating more. Try to go to PT where there are other athletes, especially those that had the same surgery as you. It helps to be around people that are desparate to get better so that they can race again, rather than those who are not fit, not healthy and are ambivalent about the work it takes to rehab. Set your recovery goals high (move on from the PT that says, “well you can sleep through the night now–isn’t that enough?”) and surround yourself with people who will help you achieve them. BTW, I am almost completey pain free now and did LP again this summer. Be patient and get strong slowly. My neurosurgeon told me some crazy stories about patients going home and having sex, snowmobiling, etc. on the smae day as surgery and really f***ing their backs with scar tissue, etc.

-Danielle

6

Yeserday I had a laminectomy on L4-L5, due to a bi-lateral bulge that is believed to be the cause of lateral hip and leg pain that I’ve had since prior to IMC last year. I also had a tear of L5-S1 that the surgeon felt was not a concern. I haven’t spoken with the surgeon since the surgery, but he told my SO that there was some ligament damage that he “cleaned up”.

So, I know from searches that there’s a few people on there that have gone through similar, and I believe a neurosurgeon who posts here occasionally.

What’s your experience for the next couple of weeks? I was able to go out and walk up and down the street a couple of times last night, but in quite a bit of pain this morning. I’ve been hoping to minimize the use of pain pills, but I just succombed to taking one.

While I’ll follow my surgeon’s advice, I’m curious what others have experienced, and what I can be asking the surgeon in regards to return to activity.

Prior to the surgery the doc said it would be six weeks before I could start PT. Any experience on what people were doing in the meantime? How quickly did you get back to riding and/or running? For me, cycling was very painful to the point of it simply not being worth it prior to the surgery.

Thanks in advance for any input.

scott

Bumping this thread, as it was old. Anyone else go through this? I’m about to get this done. What should I expect?

7

I had 3/4 of L4 taken out in May 2001. 4 weeks of laying low, another 6 weeks of PT, then I did my first Sprint Tri in Sept of 2001.

The key to how quickly you’ll recover is how much they have to move the muscles around. The recovery isn’t for the spine itself; it’s to cure the trauma of having screwed with the muscles that stabilize the spine, and re-strengthen them.

My doc advised me that there was almost nothing I could do to my spine to cause more damage during recovery. However, he said pushing too soon would result in the muscles not healing as quickly, and total time to full-function would be longer. Picture trying to run too soon on a strained hamstring or achilles.

I did nothing-ish for 4 weeks. After that, I let pain be the guide (per his instructions). If it hurt, don’t do it. I got S-B-R back pretty quickly, the thing that took the longest to get back was lifting anything. The motion to take a rollaboard suitcase and put it in the overhead with a 25lb case took about 3 months to be comfortable.

PS: No cage, no artificial disc inserted, spine structurally sound. If you don’t have these three conditions, rehab is very different.

8

Well, I’m thinking my situation is not that bad. There is a minor bulge in the disc but it is also degenerated too so, the hole is closed and the disc is pushing the nerve a little into the spine. My doctor said they would just enlarge the opening and relieve the pressure and then it should be good. So, no fusion or removal of anything.

As far as pain goes, it just feels like my left hamstring is angry from a long hard run. In fact, I thought that I just had a hamstring injury for about 3 months and all the PT and then full on not exercising never helps so, I went in for the MRI to find this issue.

9

I had 3/4 of L4 taken out in May 2001. 4 weeks of laying low, another 6 weeks of PT, then I did my first Sprint Tri in Sept of 2001.

The key to how quickly you’ll recover is how much they have to move the muscles around. The recovery isn’t for the spine itself; it’s to cure the trauma of having screwed with the muscles that stabilize the spine, and re-strengthen them.

My doc advised me that there was almost nothing I could do to my spine to cause more damage during recovery. However, he said pushing too soon would result in the muscles not healing as quickly, and total time to full-function would be longer. Picture trying to run too soon on a strained hamstring or achilles.

I did nothing-ish for 4 weeks. After that, I let pain be the guide (per his instructions). If it hurt, don’t do it. I got S-B-R back pretty quickly, the thing that took the longest to get back was lifting anything. The motion to take a rollaboard suitcase and put it in the overhead with a 25lb case took about 3 months to be comfortable.

PS: No cage, no artificial disc inserted, spine structurally sound. If you don’t have these three conditions, rehab is very different.

This was pretty much my experience as well. I was “walking” on day 1, albiet only from couch to bathroom and back. in a week I was walking up the stairs, and in 3 weeks I was walking 1/4 mile. I started swimming as soon as the surgeon said I could, but was not allowed to lift anything over 10lbs or bend over for 4 weeks.

I did an oly swim relay shortly afterwards, and was doing some light running wihtin a few months. I did my first sprint the following spring. I continue to feel stronger in all respects with my back…even stronger than prior ot he surgery which has been 8 years now.

Ongoing core, glut & hamstring strengthing, whether through dedicated exercises or just consistent S/B is a necessity to prevent pain.

10

I had the same surgery plus a microdisectomy at the same time…sucks large and I don’t miss that burning pain and numbness.

It took a long time to get back into things. I found water jogging (not running) was ok after about 6 weeks and light spinning not long after. Running was a no go for about 3 months or so.

You will lose fitness, a lot of fitness. My biggest piece of advice is do not rush it and don’t let the inactivity depress you. It is as hard on the mind as the body - at least for me it was.